A Vision of Students Today

                                                                                                                                           Sarah Jenkins

                                                                                                                                           Period 3

     In the video, “A Vision of Students Today”, created by Kansas State University, it demonstrates our current system of how technology is used in classrooms. It starts in an empty classroom, no speaking, just music, and people have written on the walls and chairs to describe, ‘If walls could talk”. Then, the classroom is suddenly filled with students. Not using their mouths to speak about what they do in class, they use their laptops and notebooks. They show us how they are constantly distracted by technology.

     I strongly believe that in the video, “A Vision of Students Today”, created by Kansas State University, shows to me that people are not doing as well in school as they were 50 years ago without computers, and I believe that technology has taken over us, our time, and our minds. The students in this video explain to us, flat out, why our country is failing... technology. I believe technology has taken control of us, even when it comes to school work. I heard a girl in the hallway telling her friend she was on Facebook during English. It is now a habit in the human life to need technology. We could not survive without it, is what some people think. But look back 100 years ago... we sure seemed fine then! To me, it is obvious that it is because of technology we are in the state our country is in today. I'm not saying I hate technology. I myself use it frequently. But, I still believe that it is something like a virus that has spread... and plans on staying forever, while getting bigger, hammering itself further into our lives.

My Favorite Childhood Fairytale

                                                                                                                                                       Sarah J.
                                                                                                                                                     08/26/12
                                                                                                                                                      Period 3



   When I was a child, every single Sunday after Church, I remember running into my old fashioned family room and flipping on the TV. I would anxiously await for the screen to come on. As soon as it did, I would push in the old tape I had prepared that morning. And my favorite childhood movie would come on, Thumbelina, the original written by Hans Christin Anderson. The old windmill would appear on my TV as I shrieked out in excitement. The many names of the people who made this movie would pop up in a yellow plain font. One of the songs that would be preformed later in the movie called "Let Me Be Your Wings" would play. As it moved away from the windmill it zoomed out and stopped at the sight of a town, which looks like a town from the 1800's in France.
   "Once upon a time in Paris" is the first thing you'll see, when suddenly, a large swallow swoops down and grabs your attention. It feels as though you are flying on his back as he enter the town. He sings a tune about following your heart as he circles around a fountain. His wing dips in as he soars back up. He introduces himself as Jacquimo, with a very French accent. He states that he loves beautiful things and that nothing is impossible if you follow your heart. He fly's into a shattered window in an old library. He starts to speak of romance and how much he loves fashion and stories. His favorite though of his many books is a story of romance and doing the impossible. The book opens and the story of Thumbelina begins.
   "Once upon a time, there was a lonely woman who wanted a child of her own. One day, she went to a good witch and was given a seed and was told to grow it in a flower pot. And soon, it tuned into a beautiful flower. It opened with the woman's kiss, and inside was a tiny girl, with long orange  hair in a blue dress." Oh, the beginning of my favorite story. Unfortunately, poor Thumbelina was so tiny, that see was accidentally misplaced! Everyday was a challenge, and the animals on the farm had to watch where they stepped! She was almost baked in a pie for heavens sake! Before she goes to bed, her mother tells a story of a fairy prince marrying a princess fairy. Falling asleep with the book standing open next to her walnut of a bed, a runaway fairy prince stops at her window and startles her awake. First, she is terrified of the prince, when she realizes he is her size! He takes her for a ride on his bumblebee a he sings he the love song, "Let Me Be Your Wings", the whole time, keeping the secret that he is the prince. He drops her off at home, telling her she will marry him, unknowing what is going to happen.
   Later that night, a jealous frog of Thumbelina's voice kid-napp's her. When she awakes, she is on a boathouse, and the frog tells hr she is to marry her son, Grundel! Terrified, she escapes and now is alone, in the middle of a snow. She almost freezes to death, when a mouse takes her in. Meanwhile, the prince is searching for her, when it starts to rain and his wings are torn and he falls into an ice cold lake. He was thought to be dead. Thumbelina is informed of this by the mouse. Heartbroken, she runs to a bug, to try to find her way home. He also enjoys her singing and says he will show her if she sings at his ball  that night. He dresses her as a bug, hoping no one will notice. He spins her too fast on the dance floor and her costume comes off! Embarrassed, he calls her an outcast and a hypocrite. Fleeing once more, she learn that the frog is on her tracks, looking for her. Losing hope, she travels to a mole and she is frightened by the pinned butterfly's and his fear of the sun. After she losses all hope of returning home, she agrees to marry the mole. As she walks down the isle, the frog bursts in and says he wants to marry her, when next, the prince comes in, unmelted from the ice by friends who have been keeping her safe without her knowing it.
   Singing one last time, for her brave prince who fought off everyone who stood in there way of love, he lifts her off her feet and fly's her to the fairy court. They marry in front of her mothers' house, who is overjoyed to see her. They glide down the isle, Thumbelina's vail flowing in the breeze from the fluttering gold fairy wings around them. The Princes' Bumblebee comes swooping down and picks them up. Thumbelina throws her bouquet, and they seal the story with one last kiss. "And of course they lived happily ever after."
  

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